As I mentioned before in my follow-up article on the Nokia 8800 Arte,  I used the Nokia 3109 in parallel with the more expensive luxury device, only to find out that, on balance, I liked the 3109 more!

The 3109 is not the newest device out there, nor the prettiest - but crucially, it’s cheap, and it works very well for the average salesperson - which in turn means that it sells very well to corporates. The fact that there is no camera only really seeks to boost its merit for those more security keen organisations.

Let’s make no mistake - this device is not cutting edge, but the two things it does do very well are voice and text - the buttons are well laid-out and tactile, even for my monster paws. Call quality is also great, thanks to a nice loud speaker. Actually, I’d argue there is another weapon in the 3109 armoury - the battery. This is a 1000+ mAh battery, which means that given there is very little in the way of data-apps or 3G radios to drain it, it really does last forever. I had a full bar days after charging!

So what am I saying? Well, if you wanted a clear, easy to use, good quality device for not-much-money, this is a real contender - the thing is, there are plenty of those type of people, who don’t need to the latest bells and whistles, who would be happy to get this Nokia for around £75 SIM free - and they would be on to a winner!

Few days ago, Samsung has announced the “European wide market availability” of its iPhone-killin’ i900 Omnia smartphone. Currently, the all-touchscreen device is available in Italy, Netherlands, and Germany; and will be available in most of European countries including UK, France, Spain from September.

And that’s about all we have from the Samsung’s release. In the rest of the text they’re talking how Europeans crave for multimedia features on their mobile phones and even provide data to prove it…

Here’s the link to the full release if you care to know more.

A new LG device has been spotted at the FCC’s website. The “VC” prefix clearly suggests we’re going to see this baby hitting the Verizon’s portfolio, and from what we can tell it will be an interesting phone, especially for the youth.

Not much is known at this stage, however we do see a presence of 3-inch 480×240 screen, a “game pad” of some sort and a detachable QWERTY keyboard. Is Verizon about to introduce a heavy texter’s dream phone or what? Plus, let’s not forget all the games you’ll be able to play on that gorgeous screen. We’re watching this one, have no doubt about it…

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

A new software update is available for the Nokia N95. From what we can tell, it’s a major update as it brings the firmware version from 21.0.016 to 30.0.015.

As usual, the new update optimizes the device’s performance and improves the overall stability. Additionally, once the upgrade is completed the N95 has more software installed and some of the existing apps are updated. Here’s what’s changed:

• Nokia Maps 2.0 built-in
• Full N-Gage client
• Nokia Search 4.0 with Google plug-in
• Share online 3.0
• Enablers for Comes With Music
• Download! application updated (v 3.1.50)
• Upgrade to Music Player
• Update for Flash Lite 3
• New baseline for VoIP (with error corrections)
• Autorotate
• Added 5th theme

To update your Nokia N95, simply start Nokia PC Suite and follow the instructions…

[Via: SymbianFreak, SymbianGuru]

Spotted while grocery shopping:

Fring keeps adding new phones to the list of supported devices. Lately we caught them adding support for the Nokia N78 and N96.

Existing users of the two devices (even though there are not that many Nokia N96 owners at present) will be able to extend the usefulness of their smartphones with one of the most popular Symbian VoIP clients. In addition, fring users can chat with their buddies on multiple IM networks or run some of the third-party fring Add-ons…

To download fring, hop over to their website and take it from there.

[Via: fring blog]

AT&T has recently added a new phone to its GoPhone offering - Samsung SGH-a137. The entry-level device prides itself with a built-in GPS receiver, which makes it kinda stand out in the carrier’s pay-as-you-go phone portfolio.

Other specs include 2-inch screen, Bluetooth support and a music player. Size wise, the Samsung SGH-a137 measures 88.9×45.7×20.3 mm (3.5×1.8x.8 inches). It is already available at AT&T for $39.99 before taxes.

[Via: MobileBurn]

As Dusan previously reported (here and here), the Blackberry Bold 9000 (RIMs new HSPA email uber-phone) is now for sale with Orange and Vodafone in the UK. But where else can you get it?

Well apparently, 3 is going to be carrying it in November. That only leaves T-Mobile and O2, who we’ve not really heard a peep from. Previous rumours suggested sometime in Q3 for the Operators, but right now the the respective websites only have the 8110 and 8310 listed.

Of course, another strategy you can employ is to go SIM-free - sure it will hurt your wallet in the short-term, but at least you are not going to be locked in to a longer contract that you already have. In that case, you can wander on over to Expansys, where the device is currently £619.99 (correct at time of posting).

Whichever route you decide to take, you’ll be getting a universally-acclaimed device - the screen in particular seems to have come in for endless praise - and of course, you’ll have all that Push-email goodness!

[Via: Mobile News]

PC Pro is reporting that Vodafone has signed a deal with Dell to sell it’s Mini 9 Laptops with integrated mobile broadband only a day or so after the “netbook” was launched!

The XP-loaded Mini 9 costs £299 and features an 8.9in screen, 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB solid state drive. There’s also integrated Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel webcam and 802.11b/g wireless. An Ubuntu version is on its way for £269.

Not bad specs, and I’d love to see how the build quality is - some of the earlier “netbooks” from other manufacturers had somewhat less-than-optimal build, but I would bet on the Dell device being rock solid - and £299 is cheap as chips (well, nearly)!

[Via: PC Pro]

A South Korean businss paper has reported that Samsung is persuing SanDisk, for acquisition purposes. Both companies would not confirm or deny the report, which to me sounds like it’s on baby!

Samsung currently supplies NAND flash memory chips to SanDisk … which is the world’s largest supplier of flash storage card products. Samsung is the world’s largest manufacturer of NAND as well as DRAM, or dynamic random access memory, chips. NAND flash memory is used in digital devices such as cameras and music players. DRAM chips are used mostly in personal computers.

Samsung is no stranger to acquisitions either - last year it bought an Israeli company called TransChip, and turned it in to one of it’s R&D centres - Israel is a hi-tech leader globally, and that purchase further extended Samsung’s already mammoth scale of operations.

[Via: Cellular News]